1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information transfer system, an information transfer method, an electrical-equipment communication apparatus, an information communication apparatus and a computer-readable recording medium with a communication control program which allow a server that an information provider or the like has to transfer information via an information network to an information panel, or which transfer information via the information network so that the server can control the information panel itself, electrical equipment connected to the information panel or electrical equipment communicable to the information panel, or so that it can monitor their state.
2. Background of the Related Art
Conventionally, a system has been devised in which a server that an information provider or the like has transfers information via an information network (or a network) to an information panel, or information is transferred so that the server can control and monitor the information panel or the like. Such a prior art is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-300430 specification (Patent Document 1).
A cooking information system described in Patent Document 1 includes an information-provider server which can transmit and receive data via a predetermined communication network, a user terminal which can transmit and receive data via the communication network to and from the information-provider server, and a rice cooker which can transmit and receive data to and from the user terminal. Herein, the information-provider server corresponds to the server according to the present invention, the user terminal corresponds to the information panel according to the present invention, and the rice cooker corresponds to the electrical equipment according to the present invention.
In addition, FIG. 13 shows another prior art. FIG. 13 is a block diagram, showing the whole configuration of a conventional information transfer system. A conventional information transfer system 100 shown in FIG. 13 is configured by an information panel (which corresponds to the electrical-equipment communication apparatus in Claims) 101, and a server (which corresponds to the information communication apparatus in Claims) 102. The information panel 101 is made up of a transmission and reception section 103. The server 102 is made up of a transmission and reception section 104, a trigger generation section 105 which generates an information transfer request for the information panel 101 or a control monitoring request for the information panel 101, and a buffer 106 which stores a procedure or data on information transfer, or the like. The transmission and reception section 103 of the information panel 101 and the transmission and reception section 104 of the server 102 are connected by an information network (or a network) 107. The information network 107 is, for example, the Internet. As the trigger generation section 105, an operation switch, a timer, a sensor, or the like can be specifically mentioned. The buffer 106 is made up of a memory or the like.
FIG. 14 shows an information transfer procedure of the conventional information transfer system 100 shown in FIG. 13. In FIG. 14, information exchanges are shown by the information panel 101, the server 102 and the trigger generation section 105. Besides, reference numerals 111 to 117 denote the contents of each piece of information. Herein, in FIG. 14, periodic TCPs 111, 112, 114, 117 represents information which the information panel 101 sends periodically based on a TCP (or transmission control protocol) protocol. A request TCP 115 stands for request information which the server 102 issues periodically based on the TCP protocol. A result TCP 116 indicates result information which the information panel 101 gives periodically based on the TCP protocol.
Next, using the information transfer procedure shown in FIG. 14, an operation will be described of the conventional information transfer system 100 shown in FIG. 13. In this prior art, the information panel 101 is connected to the Internet 107. An IP address which the information panel 101 has is not connected to the Internet 107 through a global address that is constantly fixed, but connected to the Internet 107 through an IP address that is sequentially switched by a provider or the like. Therefore, the IP address of the information panel 101 is not a fixed address, and thus, the server 102 cannot become constantly aware of the IP address of the information panel 101. Hence, when a trigger is generated in the trigger generation section 105 of the server 102, the information panel 101 transmits IP address information periodically so as to inform the server 102 of the IP address of the information panel 101 at the point of time. This is the periodic TCPs 111, 112, 114, 117 shown in FIG. 14. In this way, the information panel 101 transmits the IP address periodically to the server 102, so that the server 102 can certainly transfer the information to the information panel 101. Thus, it can certainly control the information panel 101 and can certainly monitor the state of the information panel 101. When a control request trigger for the information panel 101 is generated in the trigger generation section 105, the trigger generation section 105 issues a control request signal 113. However, at this time, the server 102 does not recognize the IP address of the information panel 101 at the point of time. Therefore, it cannot issue a request signal instantly to the information panel 101, and then, temporarily stores, in the buffer 106, the fact that there is the control request for the information panel 101. After the control request signal 113 is issued, when the server 102 receives the periodic TCP 114 transferred to the server 102, the server 102 can recognize the IP address of the information panel 101 at the point of time. Thereby, the transmission and reception section 104 of the server 102 can issue the request TCP 115 to the transmission and reception section 103 of the information panel 101. The information panel 101 which has received the request TCP 115 executes a necessary processing and transmits its result as the result TCP 116 to the server 102. As a result, the information transfer system 100 completes a series of information transfers on the control request trigger which is generated in the trigger generation section 105.
However, in the conventional information transfer system 100, as shown in FIG. 14, during the period of time from the generation of the control request trigger to the completion of the control in the information panel 101 or the server 102, an additional time is required from the generation of the control request signal 113 to the generation of the periodic TCP 114. If the control request signal 113 is generated immediately before the periodic TCP 114, such an extra time is relatively short. However, if the control request signal 113 is generated shortly after the periodic TCP 112, a control delay is caused which corresponds to most time of the interval at which the periodic TCPs are transmitted. Hence, it is difficult to provide information or execute control in real time. Besides, if the interval of time between the periodic TCPs is shortened, the additional time can be relatively short. However, in this case, processing tasks in the information panel 101 or the server 102 have to be more frequently performed. Hence, a disadvantage arises in that the network 107 always stays in a busy state, thus making it difficult to shorten such an interval beyond its necessity.